Event report
July 8, 2025
FabCafe Global Editorial Team
On the second day of the grand opening of FabCafe Osaka, a talk event titled “The Unformed Body: Artistic and Technological Pathways to Embodied Experience” was held. Two creators whose work and research focus on smell and touch were invited to speak, sparking a conversation around intangible sensations, the ambiguity of the body, and how such elements can be transformed into creative acts and modes of sharing.
This exploration of the senses also directly expresses FabCafe Osaka’s core concept: L’Informe (the unformed). This article introduces the work of olfactory artist Maki Ueda and Nobuhisa Hanamitsu of Enhance Experience Inc., and discusses the potential of technologies that open up new ways of sensing, as revealed through their dialogue.
-
Maki Ueda
Scent Artist
Born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1974. Currently based in Okinawa and Tokyo, Japan.
Olfactory artist Maki Ueda (JP/NL) focuses the spectator’s attention on her fragrant gestures by minimizing the influence of the other senses. Her current research explores olfaction in relation to space and movement resulting in strong, often universal, approaches. She focuses on the pure experience of a smell instead of a more contextual or narrative approach. In addition to her own creative work, she teaches courses on olfactory art at the ArtScience Interfaculty of The Royal Academy of Art and the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague (NL) since 2009.
Maki Ueda studied media art under Masaki Fujihata at The Environmental Information Department (B.A. 1997, M.A. 1999), Keio University, Japan. She received a grant from the Japanese government in 2000 and from the POLA Art Foundation in 2007. She has been based in The Netherlands from 2000 till 2011. She learned perfumery at Grasse Institute of Perfumery in 2008.
Awards:
2009 – Nominated for The World Technology Awards Category: Art (NY, USA)
2016 – The 3rd Art and Olfaction Awards Finalist (Sadakichi Award) for ‘The Juice of War‘
2018 – The 5th Art and Olfaction Awards Finalist (Sadakichi Award) for ‘Olfactory Games‘, The Art and Olfaction Awards
2019 – The 6th Art and Olfaction Awards Finalist (Sadakichi Award) for ‘Tangible Scents – Composition of Rose in the Air‘
2020 – The 7th Art and Olfaction Awards Finalist (Sadakichi Award) for ‘Olfactory Labyrinth ver. 5‘
2022 – The 8th Art and Olfaction Awards Winner (Sadakichi Award) for ‘Viral Pafum‘
2023 – The 9th Art and Olfaction Awards Finalist (Sadakichi Award) for ‘Aerosculpture’For more info, please visit http://www.ueda.nl/index.php?lang=en
Born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1974. Currently based in Okinawa and Tokyo, Japan.
Olfactory artist Maki Ueda (JP/NL) focuses the spectator’s attention on her fragrant gestures by minimizing the influence of the other senses. Her current research explores olfaction in relation to space and movement resulting in strong, often universal, approaches. She focuses on the pure experience of a smell instead of a more contextual or narrative approach. In addition to her own creative work, she teaches courses on olfactory art at the ArtScience Interfaculty of The Royal Academy of Art and the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague (NL) since 2009.
Maki Ueda studied media art under Masaki Fujihata at The Environmental Information Department (B.A. 1997, M.A. 1999), Keio University, Japan. She received a grant from the Japanese government in 2000 and from the POLA Art Foundation in 2007. She has been based in The Netherlands from 2000 till 2011. She learned perfumery at Grasse Institute of Perfumery in 2008.
Awards:
2009 – Nominated for The World Technology Awards Category: Art (NY, USA)
2016 – The 3rd Art and Olfaction Awards Finalist (Sadakichi Award) for ‘The Juice of War‘
2018 – The 5th Art and Olfaction Awards Finalist (Sadakichi Award) for ‘Olfactory Games‘, The Art and Olfaction Awards
2019 – The 6th Art and Olfaction Awards Finalist (Sadakichi Award) for ‘Tangible Scents – Composition of Rose in the Air‘
2020 – The 7th Art and Olfaction Awards Finalist (Sadakichi Award) for ‘Olfactory Labyrinth ver. 5‘
2022 – The 8th Art and Olfaction Awards Winner (Sadakichi Award) for ‘Viral Pafum‘
2023 – The 9th Art and Olfaction Awards Finalist (Sadakichi Award) for ‘Aerosculpture’For more info, please visit http://www.ueda.nl/index.php?lang=en
-
Maki Ueda, an artist who describes herself as an ‘olfactory artist’, has been exploring scent as a creative medium on a par with sight and sound. She uses scent extraction and composition to access memory and emotion in her works. During the pandemic, she created a performance piece called Aero Sculpture in Arashiyama, where she visualised the atmosphere of a space using invisible scent and sound, as if sculpting the air itself. While in Paris, she developed scents that evoke sensations of warmth and coolness, creating an installation that enables visitors to experience the tactile aspect of smell. Ueda has also extracted scents from soil and burnt remains, using olfaction as a lens through which to view social and environmental issues.
“Aero Sculpture – Sea of Fragrant Clouds” (2022)
A sensory performance installation by Maki Ueda, visualizing scent using dry ice and sound. Inspired by temple incense and created in Kyoto’s Arashiyama, the work invites viewers to experience scent as a form of spatial and temporal art. Finalist for the 2023 Art and Olfaction Awards.
Soil Perfume – Sensing Environmental Change (2014)
A scent-based investigation by Maki Ueda into the environmental qualities of soil from Rotterdam and Ishigaki. The project captures how pollution, sunlight, and local ecosystems manifest in the scent of the earth—proving that soil holds sensory records of place and change.
Created with support from the City of Rotterdam’s O&O Fund.
War Juice – Hiroshima & Nagasaki (2015)
An olfactory installation by Maki Ueda that simulates the stench following the atomic bombings using scent extracted from supermarket meat. The scent is experienced through a helmet-like device, offering a visceral engagement with historical memory. Finalist for the 2016 Art and Olfaction Awards.
As Ueda explains, “Scent is ambiguous and low in resolution. That’s precisely why it connects so easily with emotions and memory. It’s the kind of experience that can’t be put into words, and that’s what makes it so deeply resonant.”
-
Nobu Hanamitsu
Haptic Scientist/Tech Lead at Enhance Experience Inc./Synesthesia Lab
Nobu is a Haptic Scientist and the Tech Lead of Synesthesia Lab. He took part developing Synesthesia Wear, which is a wearable device that has a vibrator attached to the entire garment, allowing the wearer to experience the sensation of touching an object in virtual space with their hands, and to send and receive two-dimensional communication by sensing the body’s movements.
Nobu is also currently a doctoral student at Keio UnivKeio University Graduate School of Media Design Embodied Media Projectersity Media Lab.Nobu is a Haptic Scientist and the Tech Lead of Synesthesia Lab. He took part developing Synesthesia Wear, which is a wearable device that has a vibrator attached to the entire garment, allowing the wearer to experience the sensation of touching an object in virtual space with their hands, and to send and receive two-dimensional communication by sensing the body’s movements.
Nobu is also currently a doctoral student at Keio UnivKeio University Graduate School of Media Design Embodied Media Projectersity Media Lab.
Nobuhisa Hanamitsu, on the other hand, is a specialist in designing tactile experiences. Projects such as the Synesthesia Suit and Synesthesia X are wearable devices that deliver tactile and sonic stimuli to the whole body, opening up new possibilities for embodied perception.
In Synesthesia X, participants sit in a chair with their eyes closed and experience a combination of vibrational touch, sound and light. The sensations experienced vary greatly from person to person. Some report ‘dreaming of swimming on an island’, while others describe it as ‘a sinking, immersive feeling’. These experiences often evoke fragmented perceptions that are difficult to articulate.
Hanamitsu says, “I want these devices to draw out something beyond just fun or comfort. Something mysterious and hard to define. That’s what stimulates people’s imagination and memory.”
In the second half of the session, a discussion unfolded under the theme of ‘The Unformed Body’, in which the speakers and moderator engaged in a wide-ranging conversation about sensations such as smell and touch, which are difficult to capture in fixed form, and the experiences and memories they evoke.
Topics included the mechanisms by which scent stirs memory and emotion, the potential for sharing sensory experiences, and new ways of connecting with cities and society through the five senses. Through the lens of technology and art, the conversation continually returned to the value of ambiguity and the importance of embracing the undefined.
Ota: After listening to both of your presentations, I was reminded of just how ambiguous, yet rich, the body really is. Why do you think scent and touch are so strongly tied to memory?
Ueda: The sense of smell is actually one of the least precise of all the senses. That’s precisely why it’s ambiguous, but also why it connects so directly to memory and emotion.
Hanamitsu: I totally agree. It’s the same with touch. In a way, it’s left uncontrolled. Its low resolution sparks the imagination. That’s why leaving a bit of ambiguity often results in a more meaningful experience.
Ota: That’s really interesting. Because it’s ambiguous, each person can form their own interpretation or narrative.
Ueda: Scent can create the illusion that someone is present. This can instantly trigger a surge of emotion.
Hanamitsu: This makes it difficult to quantify or recreate. However, recent digital technologies are making it easier to deliver stable stimuli under certain conditions. I think there’s real potential there.’
Synesthesia X1, a multisensory experience device. When you surrender your body to the system embedded with vibrators, your entire being is enveloped in sound, vibration, and light. — Quoted from AXIS design magazine, Issue 211 (2021)
Ota: The question of whether sensibility can be measured relates back to yesterday’s discussion on sensory evaluation at an urban scale. Today, we’re focusing on the human body, but have you ever collected any interesting data?
Hanamitsu: With my device, I often observe non-verbal reactions which vary from person to person. They’re all different, but each one feels undeniably real to the person experiencing it. In a way, I think that kind of subjective variability is compelling data.
Ueda: In my installations, I’ve also noticed striking bodily responses to warm and cool sensations evoked by scent. Even though it’s just a scent, someone once said that, the moment they entered the room, they ‘felt the humidity’. This crossover in perception is fascinating.
An olfactory installation commissioned by Mazda Europe, designed to explore how scent can alter the perception of temperature. Two identical rooms—one infused with warm fragrances, the other with cool—invite visitors to feel climate change through the body.
Presented at Mazda’s Paris event and ACM-CHI conference.
Ota: It truly is an experience beyond words. The question now is how we can share such sensations.
Hanamitsu: I believe that combining these fragmented sensations with technologies like AI could lead to new ways of visualising sensibility in the future.
Ueda: I’m sure there’s far more potential in ambiguity than we realise. The key for both cities and people moving forward will be how we make use of that open, undefined space.
In his closing remarks, moderator Ota spoke about FabCafe Osaka’s intention to continue expanding these discussions through experimentation. Ideas already in development include projects that reframe sensory elements—such as scent, plants, and water—as part of the city’s experiential value, as well as collaborative experiments in sensory evaluation with companies and researchers.
“L’Informe,” or the unformed, is an invitation to imagine what resists standardization. It is also an attempt to redefine the relationship between people and the city through the depth of the body and through sensations like smell and touch.
How can we reframe sensations that evoke memories and emotions? And how can we share our own emotional experiences with others?
This session offered valuable insights into these fundamental questions at the intersection of technology and art.
A new project is about to begin in Osaka that reimagines the future of cities, starting with the most personal aspect of all: the five senses.
Text by: Mai Miyazaki (Loftwork)
Photography by: Noriko Uemura
Translated by: Eri Nakagawa (Loftwork)
About FabCafe Osaka
Location: 2-2-4 Tenjinbashi, Kita-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
Seating Capacity: 48 seats
Access:
[By Train]
・5-minute walk from JR Tozai Line Osaka-Tenmangu Station
・5-minute walk from Osaka Metro Tanimachi Line / Sakaisuji Line Minami-Morimachi Station
・10-minute walk from Keihan Main Line / Osaka Metro Sakaisuji Line Kitahama Station
-
FabCafe Global Editorial Team
This articles is edited by FabCafe Global.
Please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions on this article with us.
→ Contact usThis articles is edited by FabCafe Global.
Please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions on this article with us.
→ Contact us -
See Branch List
See Keyword List
- #Craft
- #crQlr
- #HK Event Report
- #COUNTER_POINT
- #Prototyping
- #Design thinking workshop
- #SDG 14 Life under water
- #Miro
- #Creator Collaboration
- #Bangkok Design Week 2020
- #FabCafe Bangkok
- #Fab Meetup Hong Kong
- #FAB Ideation
- #Future City
- #COVID-19
- #Event Report
- #Sustainable
- #Business
- #Social Welfare
- #Fab Meetup
- #Exhibition
- #Art
- #SDGs
- #Haptic Design
- #Material
- #Drawing
- #Wood
- #Hackathon
- #AI
- #Agriculture
- #YouFab
- #Workshop
- #Meetup
- #AWRD
- #Bio
- #Global Goals Jam
- #XR (VR/AR/MR)
- #Talk Event
- #Ideathon
- #Embroidery
- #Material Meetup
- #Innovation
- #Architecture
- #Interview
- #Education
- #3D
- #Business Projects
- #Community